Sometimes, you just have to reward yourself. Often when I am working on a project or have one for sale, there is a little part of me that would really love to keep it. Before I really found Craigslist and knew that I could sell pieces quickly and profitably, I did keep many of my pieces. And my house is packed as a result. Not hoarders packed, but really, there isn’t room to add more. And sometimes I really think that I am pushing the edge on how much I have as a result of how much I keep.
My guest room, for example is just such a room. Functional yes, beautiful yes, but sometimes I think it could stand a little less. But it is where I store a lot of things that I just simply can’t seem to part with. It was designed first and foremost as a guest room and currently it holds a queen sized bed as well as a day bed with a trundle. It allows for a family to sleep there. It is just off the upstairs bath, so it makes it convenient for guests. I have a large armoire (bought and used for the Kid as a baby) that now holds the few quilts that I can’t quite part with. Or just haven’t yet.
There is also a small collection, of sorts, of sewing machines. The first is my Mom’s sewing machine and the one I used as a teenager to sew with. A light blue Singer in a cabinet, I couldn’t bear to see it sold when Mom went into assisted living. And in the days when the Kid and I used to do the estate sale circuit, I picked up a couple more, even older, Singers that I just couldn’t let go to the junk yard or sold for scrap. One is an antique treadle machine, although it would definitely require some work before there would be hope of it working, it is just a beautiful contrast to the three computerized machines I use now.
I had an older white dresser in the room to hold miscellaneous fabrics that I bought before I knew what I was doing in buying fabric for quilts or remanents of pajama making or costumes. Things that might come in handy some day (doesn’t that sound like the justifications of a hoarder?) and that I just can’t seem to part with. When I first started painting the ombré style dressers, I actually sold a dresser to two different couples accidentally, so to rectify the issue, I used the dresser and painted it for the second couple. Ever since, I have been keeping on the lookout for a replacement.
My experience, at least in the Kansas City market, is that people usually desire the taller and more narrow dressers than the long, low ones. So, when the opportunity to pick up a dresser with a great little fifties retro-vibe for free came along, I snatched it up knowing that if it didn’t sell, it could take the place of the long since sold dresser.
So, I finally finished it this week. I keep putting those projects that are for myself behind in the queue, but I finally opted to finish this one. Make some room in the garage. So, with I just set it up next to another project and really did the two projects side-by-side. I think it turned out wonderfully and yesterday, it was carried up to the guest room and settled it into its place. No repairs were needed for this piece (can you believe I got this for free?) and a coat of primer followed by several coats of ultra-bright white and some new feet just brought this piece to life. I love it!
What do you think?
I also completed another pink ombré styled dresser, no big fan fare for this one. The one thing I did do a little differently is that instead of painting the cabinet the lightest shade of pink (that wonderful blush pink), I opted to go with the most bold pink! I have six shades of pink paint and often, this bold pink doesn’t get used if the dresser doesn’t have five drawers, so I had a lot of the pink. I didn’t think that using it would require so many layers, but having that much color required a solid four coats. Each time I would move it, it seemed I would discover another area with some white primer bleed through or a small area that I missed.
I picked up the dresser from a wonderful young couple that was making a transition from a small cramped apartment to their first house and they wanted to start fresh. I bought this and another dresser for $30. This dresser had seen better days, that’s for sure. I even had to completely build the top drawer from scratch (my first one!) and I am very happy how to came out. Looks just as good as the originals. This is a very solid but very lightweight dresser and had found a sticker indicating that it had been built in 1944. I tell you, they just don’t build furniture like that any more. I am betting this will be around another 50 years at least!
Found a great deal on those knobs at Michael’s, in the dollar aisle. I grabbed all that I could find. I am planning on hitting all the Michael’s and Pier One’s in my area for the clearance knobs. Can’t beat a ceramic knob for a buck!
Me and the Kid have been picking up furniture all over town. He is into finding and buying a seriously awesome video game library, and has just about every game system there is. So, he doesn’t mind going with me to thrift and second hand stores. Yesterday, we scored on this awesome 60″ round glass table! You cannot image what that three quarters inch chunk of glass weighs. We seriously wrestled with that thing! Not sure what I am going to do with it, but it was just too good to pass up. Yep, free!
Okay, three more projects in varying states of completeness is calling to me, so I will say goodnight! Thanks for dropping by!
On My Creative Side 